Dear UC Irvine Research Community:
We are writing to inform you of service disruptions affecting eRA Commons access and functionality as a result of the ongoing federal government shutdown. We strongly encourage submitting proposals to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as early as possible to provide as much time as possible to manage the challenges outlined below.
Current Service Limitations
The eRA Commons helpdesk is currently experiencing inconsistent availability, and the system’s automated email notifications have been suspended. This has created several obstacles for our research community:
- New Account Setup and Validation: While we can create new accounts and provide Commons IDs, users are unable to receive the automated email containing their temporary login password. This prevents new users from accessing and validating their accounts.
- Password Recovery: The “forgot password” function is similarly affected, as the system is not sending password reset emails.
- Application Submissions: The eRA Commons is not consistently sending out confirmation of receipt of new applications or notifications that application errors have been detected.
What We’re Doing
Please know that you are not alone in facing these challenges—research institutions across the country are experiencing identical issues. Our team has been:
- Creating accounts and providing Commons IDs as requests come in
- Documenting all support requests and actions taken
- Requesting that PIs and departments submit Commons Help Tickets for all time-sensitive matters (proposal submissions, RPPRs, etc.) to establish a record of our efforts and your needs
- Actively monitoring the situation and communicating with our colleagues at other institutions
Looking Ahead
Unfortunately, no workaround has been identified at this time. We remain committed to supporting you through this disruption and will continue working closely with all impacted faculty and researchers. We will provide updates as soon as eRA Commons services are restored.
We strongly encourage submitting proposals to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as early as possible to provide as much time as possible to manage the challenges outlined above. If you have questions or need assistance, please reach out to the UC Irvine ERA Team here: https://research.uci.edu/electronic-research-administration/user-support/. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we navigate this unprecedented situation together.
Thank you for your continued dedication to advancing research at UC Irvine.
Sincerely,
Jeff Warner
Senior Director, Sponsored Projects
Office of Research
University of California Irvine
949-824-7654